Sequel to X13. X13's Hive is threatened by government hired Bug Hunters and a government Xenomorph expert. Can she convince the humans to allow them to remain? Or is a Hive on Earth too great a danger? COMPLETE!

Yes.
This is the long awaited sequel to X-13. Be happy. I have a minor
block on Return to Earth so I decided to post this so you will not be
too deprived. Please tell moi what you think of this chapter so far
in a handy little review; I can see all those lurkers, so be warned.
I know where you liiiive… Not really, but please review anyway. I
found out that Jhonen Vasquez is a fan of Aliens! Therefore, all
Aliens stuff is now a million times cooler.

Disclaimer
of Doom: I own nothing but X-13 and the personalities of various
Xenomorph characters. They are all products of my deranged mind, so
beware my characters for they shall kill thieves of my work. Umm,
except for the creators of Aliens. They can steal all they want
because they own Xenomorphs. That is all.

Chapter
one

"Gentlemen,
I have gathered you here to discuss an urgent issue." General Nigel
Bowie said, addressing an assembled group of high ranking military
and government officials. He pressed a button on the remote held
loosely in his right hand. A large television screen behind him
switched on. It displayed a graph. Numerous blue bars marched across
the screen. At the end they spiked upwards sharply, turning red and
remaining at that level. The red bars were also fairly uniform. "This
is the missing persons graph for the town of Boil. Notice how it
remains fairly constant for about a decade, then spikes in the last
few six months or so?" One of the men raised his eyebrow and sighed
in boredom. Bowie glared over his grey beard and pressed the button
again. Another graph came up. This one was much the same. "And this
is the missing persons graph for the village of Redlake. The same
spike is also present." He started walking around the room, slowly
making his way around the table. "And now the anomaly. Most missing
people are children and women, sometimes young adults. Besides the
fact that the number is abnormally high, all the missing people are
men, usually between the ages of twenty-five and fifty-five. They are
often single or without children. These two towns are approximately
twenty-six miles apart. Rather strange coincidence isn't it?"
General Bowie said with a smug smirk. He pressed another button. This
time the screen was filled with the image of a glistening black,
insect-like creature.

"This
is a Xenomorph, often known as a Bug to less educated individuals."
He gave some of the members of the military a smirk. "This
variation is known as a Drone. It is the most common type." Bowie
pulled a small metal rod from his pocket, extending it to several
feet long and jabbing it at the Xenomorph's head. "Xenomorphs are
blind. However, they possess fine hearing and a powerful sense of
smell, comparable to that of a dog's. They have heat-sensing organs
here, here and here." He indicated the forepaws, hindpaws and end
of the tail. "They also have them on the head, especially near the
mouth. Experiments have shown that they can sense a human by heat
alone from a distance of over fifteen feet. Xenomorphs also have the
most sensitive pressure detecting organs known to any creature,
Terran or extraterrestrial. The only creature that has a system as
complex as theirs is the shark. Even so, theirs are designed for
water and they are not nearly as acute. The organs are set on the
front, back and sides of the head as well as on the back spikes and
along the sides like the lateral line on a fish. All these senses
unite to give the Xenomorph a perfect picture of their environment.
They are not fooled by camouflage, heat suits or by remaining
immobile. Xenomorphs communicate by telepathy. This has been proven."
he growled sternly, cutting off the protesting remark from the bored
officer. "At least one Xenomorph is always near the entrance to the
Hive. If something enters, all other Xenomorphs know instantly.
Drones, while intelligent enough to solve simple problems, are not
the brainiest beings. They are hampered by the fact that they share a
mind with all other Drones and have no way to separate themselves
from the collective. They do not think of themselves as individuals
and never put themselves before the rest of the Hive. They are single
minded and do not think creatively to solve problems. Drones born
away from the Hive are more intelligent and even when placed back
into a Hive, still have a sense of self. The other types of Xenomorph
known as Runners or Warriors are only variations of Drones, caused
when they breed in a different life form. Now, the next is called a
Praetorian, also known as a Royal Guard, also known as one big
motherfucker." This earned a few laughs, albeit nervous ones. The
men gaped as a new picture filled the screen. It was much larger and
more muscular, the head was heavily ridged, the tail bore larger
spikes and a larger barb. While all the men had seen preserved
facehuggers, eggs, chestbursters in various stages of development and
parts of Drones, few had ever seen even a skull of a Praetorian. The
closest they had come to a whole Xenomorph was a whole preserved
Drone.

"Praetorians
are much smarter than the Drone. They are much more aggressive and
larger and much rarer. They share a mind with the other Praetorians
and can block themselves from the minds of the Drones. They can solve
much more complex problems, showing that they have near-human
intelligence. They can even direct Drones in attacks. Praetorians
have two sexes, unlike the wholly female and sterile Drones.
Praetorians are sterile until the Queen dies, at which point the most
dominant female Praetorian cocoons and metamorphs into a Queen. This
only occurs when there are no Queen eggs or facehuggers. Praetorian
Queens are slightly smaller and less intelligent, though only
marginally. The reproductive rate is slower." A new image appeared.
It was again slightly larger than the previous one, a small crest on
its head.

"This
is a King. This is what the male Praetorian will morph into when the
previous King dies. Again, only the most dominant Praetorian will
change-at least in the wild, though we have discovered it is more
linked to which male mates with the Queen first. They have a definite
sense of self and possess human-level intelligence. They can solve
complex problems, though their thought process is sometimes hampered
by their extreme levels of aggression and protectiveness." He
pressed the button a final time. This time, several men actually
gasped.

"This
is a Queen. Her intelligence is human-level or higher. She solves
complex problems with ease, when she feels like it. Queens are not
the easiest to study. Her size also hampers her ability to solve
problems." Indeed, the Queen was about the size of a Tyrannosaurus
Rex. "She can guide Drones or Praetorians to aid her when she
cannot do something herself. Queens are endlessly fertile-it is not
known the limit of her egg-laying abilities. We do not know how long
she can go between matings and still lay. Usually, when one is
unfortunate enough to see a Queen she is suspended from the ceiling
of the inner chamber with a large egg-sack attached behind her." He
pointed to the egg-sack. "Queens can pull themselves free of this
when the need arises. They only do it when they have no other choice
as it is expensive energy wise, is painful to do and ensures that she
must mate again before resuming her egg laying duties. Few have ever
seen this happen and survive. Queens are linked mentally with all
other Xenomorphs in her Hive. She even feels their pain. They can
feel hers too if she is too distraught to block it from them."
General Bowie shut off the television and stood back, looking
knowing. A lesser ranked officer leant forwards and cleared his
throat, looking irritated.

"Sir,
we know all this. What is the point of telling us again? You call us
down here to tell us about vanished rednecks and extraterrestrials
that are a hazard only to planetary colonies? Some of us have
important places to be, not in a refresher course for what we learned
years ago. Sir." There were a few muttered agreements and
nods. "Why do we have to know this?"

"Because,"
Bowie said, placing his hands on the table top and grinning horribly.
"There is a Hive of these on Earth right now."

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